ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I am a second-year Psychology student at Dawson. Even though I am pursuing a career in psychology, writing has remained an important passion. I was clearly excited, then, to take a class on poetry since it is something I love and have never studied. From a group of topics, I chose to discuss time and space because they are both abstract and fundamentally a part of our lives. It was quite a challenge to structure an essay around such intangible concepts, but I believe it worked out in the end. Enjoy!

–Lilian Yates

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Terrance Hayes’ poems “American Sonnet for my Past and Future Assassin” [“Inside me is a black-eyed animal”] and “American Sonnet for my Past and Future Assassin” [“I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison”] have different tones but seem to share a soul. Both poems are driven by a sense of entrapment in space, as well as in the invisible­­, but still oppressive, force of time. In fact, the two poems are almost mirror images of each other. While “Inside me is a black-eyed animal” has the reader looking in, “I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison” has the reader looking out from their confinement. Though the perspective differs, they both consistently establish very clear physical and temporal boundaries throughout their narratives. These boundaries serve as a constant force against the speaker as they attempt to be their true self, but are constantly being pushed away from it. Time and space are partnered forces closing in on not just the speaker, but all of America–and maybe even everyone.

The animals that struggle within the speaker in “Inside me is a black-eyed animal” are an effective metaphor used to convey physical entrapment because it is in their nature to be free, yet they remain locked away by forces completely out of their control. This is important because it highlights the difference between being too timid to be one’s true self and genuinely not being able to unleash the truth. The speaker says, “as if a bird could grow without breaking its shell” in response to the image created of a bull trapped in a stall (line 3). The idea there is both that growth is impossible under the roof of confinement, but also that it is absurd to suggest that a bird be trapped by its own shell in the first place. That is what makes the confines so painful for the speaker in this poem. It is in a bird’s nature to fly, so the idea that it stays trapped in its own shelter is torturous. “I lock you in an American Sonnet that is part prison” tackles this idea interestingly because it introduces the speaker as the force that is entrapping the reader. However, it is rather clear that the speaker is imposing on the reader what has previously been imposed on themself. The space of confinement in this poem changes, going from “a little room in a house set aflame” to “a dream-inducing sleeper hold” (2, 5). The “prison” does not always look the same, but it is always there, and it is always suffocating. The reader is not just trapped, they are locked into these spaces. There is a separate force shoving them in and throwing away the key. Once again, there is a struggle for expression and a door locked before escape is possible.

The concept of time is equally important in the two poems to deepen their meanings. “Inside me is a black-eyed animal” presents time in two ways that directly contrast each other. When the speaker says, “I was raised / By a beautiful man. I loved his grasp of time,” he is referencing his past and where he came from (9-10). His parents’ beliefs shaped part of who he is and how he sees the world, but many moments still remain lost in the past. He can do nothing to go back to those moments and he can do nothing to change their outcomes. Afterwards, Hayes writes, “Would you rather spend the rest of eternity with your wild wings bewildering a cage or with your four good feet stuck in a plot of dirt?” (12-14). This is an inverse of the previous mention of time because it speaks of the frightening reality of eternity. It is not just a question of being trapped now, but of being trapped forever. The options he provides are between two equally restrictive realities. This suggests a certain lack of hopefulness surrounding the idea of change or improvement. This theme is strong in “I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison,” particularly surrounding the idea of “gym” and “crow” (7). These terms are an obvious reference to the Jim Crow laws. Those laws are seen as a thing of the past. By transforming the name Jim Crow into common terms, Hayes is inferring that certain things are not banished to the past; they simply changed in shape and disguise, much like how the types of prisons change at the beginning of the poem. The passage of time means that old enemies fade into transparency, but that only makes them harder to fight when they come knocking. Without time, being trapped is just a theoretical concept. It is time that makes it real and lasting.

These poems are not only distinct in voice, but in location as well. The American heart of these poems bleeds through every line and is even present in the title. This aspect of time and space goes beyond personal existential crises. While the two concepts feel abstract for the speaker themself, they are concrete when it comes to the context of the poems. “gym” and “crow” are clearly also important here, as the Jim Crow laws are a distinctly American phenomenon that laid a foundation for American society. The speaker does not exist in a vacuum, but rather in the specific context of where and when they happened to be born, and they seem to be expressing disappointment towards those things. They compare “crow- / Shit” to “stars falling from the pep rally posters on [a] wall” in “I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison” (10-11). Pep rallies are meant to display an unfiltered American spirit. Stars, and the star-spangled banner, are the symbols of America, and yet those stars are the ones failing in their duty to stay in the sky. They are not fulfilling the duty they are meant to fulfill. This focus on America reinforces the idea that the speaker is held captive, not by their own mind, but by something on the outside. In this context, the speaker’s feelings of being locked away do not represent the experiences of everyone. They represent Black Americans specifically, who certainly have a unique set of forces confining them. These specific experiences cannot be ignored when discussing “Inside me is a black-eyed animal.” America is a shell, its fragile walls holding back the “clatter of a thousand black birds whipping in a storm” (5). The birds are both pieces inside Hayes as an individual, and trapped people fluttering to escape the empty shell that is America. These people are forceful but manage to be held back by something that appears harmless and fragile. What makes this so bleak is that if modern America is considered as a function of time and space, it should be one of the best places to be in, yet Hayes implies that it is suffocating and disappointing. The idea that America is a paradise for everybody is clearly a deception then, because these poems point to an entirely different story about the land of the free.

Terrance Hayes’ poems “American Sonnet for my Past and Future Assassin” [“Inside me is a black-eyed animal”] and “American Sonnet for my Past and Future Assassin” [I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison”] powerfully emphasize the ways time and space can push and pull people. In some way, the speaker is always being held back or manipulated by space and time. This speaks to our vulnerability as people. Even if we have strong senses of self, and even if we have things to say, we are sometimes still forced to cower because of outside forces. The only open window inside this “prison,” or “music box,” or “panic closet” seems to be the voice, because even someone being pushed in all directions by space and time can sing.

 

 Works Cited

Hayes, Terrance. “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin [“I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison]” The Poetry Foundation, 22 June 2024.

—. “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin [“Inside me is a black-eyed animal]” The Poetry Foundation, 22 June 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/143918/american-sonnet-for-my-past-and-future-assassin.